#Sword of Doom

[cesarescabinet]

(this is spacekrakens lmao) dude idk anything about like 1950s Japanese cinema, do you have any recommendations? looking for stuff to toss on the watchlist now that I'm a bit burned out on horror (unless you have some horror recs)

Hey! If you’re curious about Japanese cinema (particularly 1950s), there’s a lot of avenues to explore! Musicals, crime, horror, historical—it all depends on what mood you’re in. (Putting this under a read more because I'm DEFINITELY going to be long posting about this!!!) Hope this is useful to you lol.

(Also noting if anybody wants to add to this list with their own recommendations feel free!!)

With old school Japanese cinema, I’ll always recommend Akira Kurosawa (obviously). He’s made some of the best Japanese movies (and arguably, the best movies of all time imo) and I feel like his work is a good gateway. It’s readily available on physical media/streaming too.

Specifically ‘50s stuff; Hidden Fortress (1958) is a good adventure flick whose structure was swiped for Star Wars, Throne of Blood (1957) is Japanese Macbeth if you like Shakespeare, and if you don’t mind a longer movie Seven Samurai (1954) includes Toshiro Mifune acting like this;

Gotta admit, though—my personal favorites from Kurosawa don’t come from the 1950s; Drunken Angel (1948) and Yojimbo (1961). One has a pathetic gangster as the main lead, the other is just a solid, breezy proto-action film (also has my beloved Unosuke but that's besides the point)

Some personal favorites of mine from the 1950s:

Life of a Horse Trader (1951) is a bittersweet story about a man trying to be a good single father to his son in the backdrop of Hokkaido. He tends not to be great at it. Stars Toshiro Mifune, the most famous face of Japanese cinema and for good reason!

Conflagration/Enjo (1958) is a single Buddhist acolyte’s fall into quiet insanity. Raizo Ichikawa is another amazing actor who I love! Also includes Tatsuya Nakadai who is the GOAT (in my heart).

Godzilla (1954) is AMAZING! If you liked Gozilla Minus One, it took a lot of familiar cues from this movie. It also technically counts as horror, depending on your definition.

Japanese horror from the 1950s:

Ugetsu (1951) (Not one I’ve seen personally, but it’s on Criterion)

The Beast Shall Die (1958) (American Psycho, but in Showa Japan. Tatsuya Nakadai is terrifying in this and absolutely despicable—stylish movie tho!)

Ghost of Yotsuya (1959) (Old-school Japanese ghost story. Honestly, there are so many different versions of this story on film that you can pick which version to watch and go from there—I’m partial to the 1965 version myself, because of the rubber rats and Tatsuya Nakadai playing a crazy person).

The Lady Vampire (1959) is the OG western-style vampire movie from Japan. Plays around with the mythos a lot, but hey our Dracula looks like this;

Misc movies that I think are neat or good gateway movies:

The Samurai Trilogy by Hiroshi Inagaki, which stars Toshiro Mifune as Miyamoto Musashi. Found that people otherwise uninterested in Japanese cinema really enjoyed this!

You Can Succeed, Too (1964) is one of my favorites from the ‘60s, also directed by Eizō Sugawa. A fun satire on the corporate world that's super colorful with catchy songs.

The Sword of Doom (1966) is also another favorite of mine, starring my beloved Tatsuya Nakadai as another bastard man (seriously though Ryunosuke is FASCINATING to me--). Fun gore effects and action scenes!

Kwaidan (1964) is an anthology of Japanese folk tales, labeled a horror film but in that kinda sorta old-school way. Beautifully shot by my favorite Japanese director Masaki Kobayashi (who, if you like this you should seriously check out his other work!)

[transea]

[candont]

Now That's An Ending

[myfairgame]

[the-phantom-peach]

yeah whatever

*posts hylink*

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tw: stylized blood below‼️

[thesunsethour]

Jaime deciding to become more involved in Tommen’s life is so funny because his three instincts are:

• teach this 8 year old to learn how to dissociate from unimaginable trauma

• plan to separate Tommen from his mother and fill the small council with allies of his own which should be easy because he knows Tommen’s favourite hobby (stamping his royal seal into hot wax)

• scrap all this and run to the Riverlands with Brienne. sorry Tommen

[letsplaythermalnuclearwar]

Homer!Odysseus and Epic!Odysseus would try to kill each other if they ever met

[littlestpersimmon]

Desire

[chernobog13]

Death approaches a Buddhist pilgrim in The Sword of Doom (1966).

[regal-bones]

Lots of fanart!! Which weapon are you picking??

You can support me on Patreon for £1 and fund my art!

[drenched-in-sunlight]

one thing i find interesting is that Rellana's sword description said the red one is engraved with "golden flame", it's the same flame seen on Fire Knights' weapon and Messmer's spear. so, flame with gold tinge.

only the flame in Messmer's Orb has black tendrils of the Dark / Abyss, and it's the Orb description that specifically states he hates his fire. other items like his Kindling and Embers also have very distinctive dark outlines (the Kindling description confirms the Abyssal Serpent was eating away at the fire).

so we can safely assume Messmer's fire, when given to others, carries over the golden grace Marika blessed him with, whereas when it's Messmer himself wielding it, or if it's a catalyst that "can't find purchase" in other hosts like Fire Coil / Fire Serpent spell, it will always have the additional dark tendrils, since only Messmer carries the Abyssal Serpent. such a neat design choice and a very consistent way to showcase that.

and it kinda makes me emotional because Marika is vulnerable to fire, yet her blessing to her son is so strong that her gold bleeds into his fire, & it's something that carries over when he shared it to those under his command. like how full of warmth and love that blessing must be? man.

Ymir i get it. i get you. you covet the strength of a mother so much cuz that strength is truly incomparable. welcome back BIoodborne's "Let the pungence of Kos cling, like a mother's devotion...Mercy for the poor, wizened child."

[yandereunsolved]

Legend of Zelda Villain(s) text posts | Part 1, Part 2

[lotus-pear]

rewatched madoka magica again today bc i fucking hate myself and to absolutely no one’s surprise i went through all five stages of grief in a single evening

[witchlingcirce]

I don’t think enough people talk about this moment in a storm of swords

Like bran and Arya basically jumping Sansa, Sansa chasing Arya, her slipping, Arya coming back to make sure she was okay, and than Sansa getting her revenge 🥹🥹 god please bring my family back together again

[boydswan]

大菩薩峠 (The Sword of Doom, 1966) dir. Kihachi Okamoto

[pistachi0art]

Come judgement day, this fluttery fiend will fly into action 🦋